Noble Hurley, a Baptist layman with a deep interest in the heritage, beliefs, and practices of Baptists, in 2003 asked Bill Pinson to meet with him to discuss possible ways to share information about Baptists. He was deeply concerned about a growing lack of understanding of and appreciation for Baptist doctrine and history. He desired to help clear up misinformation about Baptists and to clearly communicate basic concepts about Baptists and what they believe.
Following this meeting the two met several times to discuss Hurley's concerns. Pinson suggested that a series of articles with a wide distribution would be a way to help accomplish Hurley's goal. Hurley agreed with the suggestion and then asked Pinson if he would write the articles. During further discussion Pinson mentioned that the Baptist Standard would be a good means of initially distributing the articles widely and Hurley affirmed the idea.
In subsequent meetings, Baptist Foundation of Texas staff met with Hurley and Pinson to discuss financing options for the project. Based upon those discussions, the Baptist Foundation worked with Hurley to create the "Jane and Noble Hurley Baptist Identity Fund" for the purpose of funding the article series in the Baptist Standard.
The staff of the Standard agreed to a year-long one-page series to begin in January of 2005. David Clanton of the Baptist Standard staff suggested that the Standard provide a website to go along with the articles. The website would include not only the article from each issue of the Standard but also additional information related to the topic of each article.
Hurley requested that Doris Tinker meet with him and Pinson to explore ways that the series of articles and the website could be developed to make them especially interesting to Baptists in general. She agreed to do this. They also discussed the possibility of other uses of the articles in the future.
The following Baptist leaders, each with special expertise in and published materials on Baptist beliefs, polity, and practice, agreed to review each article and serve as an editorial resource: H. Leon McBeth, retired Distinguished Professor of Church History at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, William L. Pitts, Jr., Professor of Religion at Baylor University, and James H. Semple, long-time pastor and denominational leader with an earned doctorate in church history.